SIR SEAN CONNERY marked the end of his Hollywood career yesterday by turning the air blue in a tirade against the film industry.

The actor celebrated his 76th birthday with an attack on incompetent directors, producers and the industry at large. On what was meant to be a celebration of 50 years in the industry, Connery visited his home town of Edinburgh, where he was presented with a Bafta Scotland Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film.

He stunned the audience with an attack on his two recent Hollywood blockbusters and he said he did not plan on any additions to his CV. “The time has come because of my rather unfortunate last movie,” he said. “The cost to me in terms of frustration and avoiding going to jail for murder cannot have continued.”

The offending film was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, released in 2003, a misfiring superhero extravaganza directed by Stephen Norrington.

Connery said that, after his dealings with him, his opinion was that the director was “insane”. Connery said: “He was young and enthusiastic. I presumed someone wouldn’t give a person $84 million to go to a wonderful place like Prague without due diligence.”

Connery’s previous film was The Avengers. Of this epic, Connery said that although it had been a wonderful television show, he thought that the film producer was “a bit of a w****r”. My wife will verify the confrontation I had with the director when he talked about suggestions for the film because I knew they were coming from the producer. I liked the actors. But the film fed on these silly wasp things supposed to be flying around. It was relentless and tedious.”

The Avengers director was Jeremiah S. Chechik, whose career had amounted to little more than a Van Halen video and a couple of television serial episodes. The producer was Jerry Weintraub, a veteran of Hollywood action hits, including Ocean’s Eleven.

Connery insisted that he did not have a problem with directors as a rule. “You cannot hold a film together unless you have a good script and a disciplined director who understands actors.” Told that the Hollywood director Brian De Palma had been supposed to be in the audience but had not taken his seat, Connery said: “We are very lucky.”

Connery said he would make one exception to his decision to make no more films if George Lucas invited him to reprise his role as Indiana Jones’s father.

The Scots star said he had discussed a fourth film in the blockbuster series with both Lucas and Steven Spielberg. “It would have to be an offer that I couldn’t refuse to do it. Maybe I’m too expensive.” Connery revealed that Lucas had been “not enthusiastic” about his participation in the first place. “He wanted someone more like Yoda. The first time we had a meeting, I didn’t ring any bells with him. I wanted Tom Stoppard to write the script.”

Sir Sean said that Spielberg and Lucas appeared to have different visions for the film, and the actor intervened by asking Lucas: “Are you going to direct this film or him?” He spoke in a slightly frail voice after recovering from serious illness. He had had surgery to remove a kidney tumour in January, and in 2003 had surgery to remove cataracts.

Interviewed in front of a packed Edinburgh International Film Festival audience, Sir Sean called the James Bond creator Ian Fleming “an Old Etonian snob” who always wanted the unaffordable Cary Grant to play the role. The Bond star believes that Daniel Craig will be a worthy successor in the role when the latest film, Casino Royale, is released.

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